Syriza forms anti-austerity coalition

Syriza, the far-left party that won yesterday's election in Greece, this morning struck a coalition deal with the right-wing Independent Greeks.

The Independent Greeks split from the centre-right New Democracy party over the austerity conditions attached to the country's bail-outs by the troika of international creditors – the European Union, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. The coalition agreement means that Greece will have a government without either New Democracy or the centre-left Pasok for the first time since the fall of the military junta in 1974.

Syriza and the Independent Greeks both oppose austerity, but do not agree on much else. The right-wing party has conservative views on most social issues and has taken a hardline stance against illegal immigration. Panos Kammenos, leader of the Independent Greeks, has told reporters that the two parties have formed a deal, but Syriza has yet to officially confirm the agreement. The far-left party is planning to make an announcement after Tsipras meets the country's president, Karolos Papoulias, this afternoon.

After winning 149 seats in the election, Syriza fell just two seats short of the amount needed to form a majority government. The Independent Greeks won 13 seats. The pairing is likely to make upcoming negotiations with the troika much more difficult.

The one MEP from the Independent Greeks, Notis Marias, has been a vice-president of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group. He left the Independent Greeks earlier this month but will remain in the ECR, according to the group. Syriza is part of the far-left GUE/NGL group in the European Parliament.

Speaking to supporters last night, Tsipras said austerity was now a thing of the past and that the programme of the troika will be challenged. That puts Greece on a collision course with its creditors, who have warned the country’s politicians against seeking to unwind the austerity measures and structural reforms implemented in exchange for two bail-outs worth €240 billion.

Tsipras described the vote as a “defeat for the Greece of the elites and oligarchs”. He also sought to play down the possibility of a conflict with Greece’s creditors.

Antonis Samaras, prime minister since 2012, said last night that the defeat of his centre-right New Democracy party could have been greater and expressed hope that the new government would respect Greece’s commitments.

Tsipras has repeatedly promised to undo major reforms introduced by Samaras as part of Greece’s bail-out packages by, for example, raising the minimum wage and pension entitlements. Syriza has also said that it would demand a write-down of Greece’s external debt.

However, while several eurozone finance ministers have indicated that they could agree to minor adjustments to Greece’s debt, they have ruled out any major changes. Eurozone governments currently own the majority of Greece’s external debt, which represents 175% of the country’s gross domestic product.

Syriza’s victory was welcomed by Gianni Pittella, the leader of the centre-left Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament. “The Greek people have clearly chosen to stop the austerity imposed on them,” he said in a statement. “The renegotiation of the Greek debt, and in particular the extension of the terms of its bail-out, should no more be considered as taboo.”

Manfred Weber, the leader of the European People’s Party group, called on Greece to honour its commitments to austerity and structural reforms.